THE INSIDER AUTHORITY ON GATOR SPORTS

Six HRs send Gators to Super Regional

Tyler Thompson came into Sunday’s championship game of the NCAA Gainesville Regional with two home runs to show for his season. By the fifth inning he had doubled his total and for good measure, he decided to go deep one more time.

Thompson’s three home runs were part of a season-high six home run onslaught that the Florida Gators to a 15-0 victory over Florida Atlantic, giving Florida its largest victory of the season and the home field for next weekend’s Super Regional against the winner of the Miami Regional (Texas and Texas A&M play Monday night for the championship).

“Tonight was a great team effort,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said after Florida’s amazing power display. “We got a chance to get everybody in the ball game. We swung the bats well and got an early lead and got production from the whole lineup.”

Thompson’s three homers and six RBI highlighted a 19-hit attack for the Gators (45-15). Thompson got things going with an RBI double that got the scoring going for the Gators in a three-run second inning. It was a taste of things to come for the sophomore left fielder.

Thompson’s first home run came in the third when the Gators strung together three solo homers to stretch their lead to 6-0. Starting pitcher Brian Johnson led off by curving the first pitch of the inning inside the right field foul pole for a home run. He rounded third base, pointing at the Florida dugout towards relief pitcher Chas Spottswood, who Johnson told before the at-bat that he would hit a home run.

Mike Zunino followed with a towering home run to center field that cleared the 400-foot fence, for the first back-to-back home runs the Gators have hit since April 21 at USF.

After a fly out by Josh Adams, it was Thompson’s chance to cap off the inning with the first of his three homers. He launched a solo home run over the right field scoreboard. When he rounded third base, he looked up to see all the Florida players remaining in the dugout, looking disinterested and unimpressed.

When Thompson ran into the dugout without any praise from a teammate, he took a seat on the bench when the team mobbed him.

“I saw it coming around third that they were doing that,” Thompson said of the silent treatment, while shaking his head with a smile.

Thompson’s fifth-inning home run provided the only run the Gators scored between the third and eighth innings. He went with an outside pitch and drove it over the 365-foot sign on the left-center field fence. The swing secured his first career multi-home run game. But he still wasn’t done.

“I’ve hit two in a game before but never three,” Thompson said.

That is no longer the case.

His two-out home run in the eighth inning was the record setter. FAU brought in left-handed specialist Jason Boyer to face Thompson, but they could have saved the arm in the bullpen. Thompson drove an inside fastball into the right-center bullpen for a three-run home run, making him the first player in Florida history with three home runs in a postseason game.

“No way,” Thompson said with a laugh about what he was thinking after the third home run. “I was just trying to put the ball in play with two strikes. Against a lefty, I’ve been struggling with the bat. I was just trying to put the bat on it.”

Thompson’s teammates wouldn’t let him get all of the home run glory. Earlier in the eighth inning, Preston Tucker made his presence known.

After Nolan Fontana doubled and Matt den Dekker singled to start the inning, Tucker hit a sky-scraping home run just over the glove of jumping right fielder Andy Mee, pushing the Florida lead to 10-0 before Thompson extended it to 13-0 five batters later.

“There was a stretch of games where we were swinging the bats as well as anyone in the league,” Tucker said. “Fortunately, we were swinging the bats well this week.”

The run support for Johnson was a luxury he really didn’t need. The freshman lefty was on his game as the Florida pitching staff recorded its third shutout of the season behind a seven-inning, five-hit stint by Johnson. He didn’t walk a batter and only two base runners made it as far as second base.

“I was just getting ahead in the count,” Johnson said. “I just worked ahead and made them swing at my pitches.”

After his home run, Johnson added two singles in his next two at-bats. All that without even taking batting practice before the game.

Johnson went 5-8 with a triple and a home run over the weekend. His performance at the plate and on the mound earned him honors as the Most Outstanding Player of the Gainesville Regional.

“He had a great weekend,” O’Sullivan said. “I think his breaking ball was really sharp tonight and the changeup was going a little more. When you see him run the bases, the one thing that goes through your mind is you don’t want him to pull a hamstring.”

The freshman left-hander struck out only four batters, but his pinpoint control had FAU hitters uneasy all night. Whenever Johnson had two strikes, he was able to bust the Owls’ hitters inside and catch them off guard, resulting in a strikeout or a weakly hit ground ball.

“That guy is special,” FAU coach John McCormack said of Johnson. “He was able to throw a fastball for strike wherever he wanted. Then, second time through the order, he was about 80 percent with his breaking ball for a strike. Then, he’ll flip in a changeup for good measure.

“He had enough fastball that just kept beating our bats. We were a hair short of getting on it. But no one seemed to get on it this year, really. I don’t know him, but he seems to be a fierce competitor. He got the ball and went right back on the mound. He wanted the ball.”

O’Sullivan’s goal was to get a few relief pitchers into the game for some work before next weekend’s Super Regionals, but Johnson’s sparkling performance was too good for him to be removed. He threw 97 pitches on the night, 70 for strikes.

Tommy Toledo and Kevin Chapman threw the final two innings, recording a total of three strikeouts.

“This time of year is about wins,” O’Sullivan said. “You can overanalyze or over manage it, but we’re just trying to get two more wins to get to Omaha. We do have some work to do this week. We’ve got pitchers who need to get some work in intersquad.”

In 27 innings this weekend, the Florida pitching staff allowed five runs, 27 hits, two walks and struck out 30.

The Gators also didn’t make an error on the weekend. The bats having a breakout game was all that was missing, and now Florida goes into next weekend playing with confidence in all facets of the game.

“If you plan on advancing to the World Series and having a chance to play on the last day of the year you’ve got to play hit, pitch and play defense,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s the most encouraging thing going into next weekend, that we’re doing all three phases as well as we have done them all year long.

“We’ve got our sights on playing for a while into the summer.”

The next step to making that happen comes next weekend. The Gators will get the winner of the Coral Gables Regional, and their championship game is Monday night at 7 p.m. on ESPNU between Miami and Texas A&M. The Florida team will practice for about an hour Monday to allow some unused pitchers to get work, and then the team will be together to watch the Miami-Texas A&M game at night.

Florida will make their fourth appearance in a Super Regional over the past seven years.

Tyler Thompson came into Sunday’s championship game of the NCAA Gainesville Regional with two home runs to show for his season. By the fifth inning he had doubled his total and for good measure, he decided to go deep one more time.

Thompson’s three home runs were part of a season-high six home run onslaught that the Florida Gators to a 15-0 victory over Florida Atlantic, giving Florida its largest victory of the season and the home field for next weekend’s Super Regional against the winner of the Miami Regional (Texas and Texas A&M play Monday night for the championship).

“Tonight was a great team effort,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said after Florida’s amazing power display. “We got a chance to get everybody in the ball game. We swung the bats well and got an early lead and got production from the whole lineup.”

Thompson’s three homers and six RBI highlighted a 19-hit attack for the Gators (45-15). Thompson got things going with an RBI double that got the scoring going for the Gators in a three-run second inning. It was a taste of things to come for the sophomore left fielder.

Thompson’s first home run came in the third when the Gators strung together three solo homers to stretch their lead to 6-0. Starting pitcher Brian Johnson led off by curving the first pitch of the inning inside the right field foul pole for a home run. He rounded third base, pointing at the Florida dugout towards relief pitcher Chas Spottswood, who Johnson told before the at-bat that he would hit a home run.

Mike Zunino followed with a towering home run to center field that cleared the 400-foot fence, for the first back-to-back home runs the Gators have hit since April 21 at USF.

After a fly out by Josh Adams, it was Thompson’s chance to cap off the inning with the first of his three homers. He launched a solo home run over the right field scoreboard. When he rounded third base, he looked up to see all the Florida players remaining in the dugout, looking disinterested and unimpressed.

When Thompson ran into the dugout without any praise from a teammate, he took a seat on the bench when the team mobbed him.

“I saw it coming around third that they were doing that,” Thompson said of the silent treatment, while shaking his head with a smile.

Thompson’s fifth-inning home run provided the only run the Gators scored between the third and eighth innings. He went with an outside pitch and drove it over the 365-foot sign on the left-center field fence. The swing secured his first career multi-home run game. But he still wasn’t done.

“I’ve hit two in a game before but never three,” Thompson said.

That is no longer the case.

His two-out home run in the eighth inning was the record setter. FAU brought in left-handed specialist Jason Boyer to face Thompson, but they could have saved the arm in the bullpen. Thompson drove an inside fastball into the right-center bullpen for a three-run home run, making him the first player in Florida history with three home runs in a postseason game.

“No way,” Thompson said with a laugh about what he was thinking after the third home run. “I was just trying to put the ball in play with two strikes. Against a lefty, I’ve been struggling with the bat. I was just trying to put the bat on it.”

Thompson’s teammates wouldn’t let him get all of the home run glory. Earlier in the eighth inning, Preston Tucker made his presence known.

After Nolan Fontana doubled and Matt den Dekker singled to start the inning, Tucker hit a sky-scraping home run just over the glove of jumping right fielder Andy Mee, pushing the Florida lead to 10-0 before Thompson extended it to 13-0 five batters later.

“There was a stretch of games where we were swinging the bats as well as anyone in the league,” Tucker said. “Fortunately, we were swinging the bats well this week.”

The run support for Johnson was a luxury he really didn’t need. The freshman lefty was on his game as the Florida pitching staff recorded its third shutout of the season behind a seven-inning, five-hit stint by Johnson. He didn’t walk a batter and only two base runners made it as far as second base.

“I was just getting ahead in the count,” Johnson said. “I just worked ahead and made them swing at my pitches.”

After his home run, Johnson added two singles in his next two at-bats. All that without even taking batting practice before the game.

Johnson went 5-8 with a triple and a home run over the weekend. His performance at the plate and on the mound earned him honors as the Most Outstanding Player of the Gainesville Regional.

“He had a great weekend,” O’Sullivan said. “I think his breaking ball was really sharp tonight and the changeup was going a little more. When you see him run the bases, the one thing that goes through your mind is you don’t want him to pull a hamstring.”

The freshman left-hander struck out only four batters, but his pinpoint control had FAU hitters uneasy all night. Whenever Johnson had two strikes, he was able to bust the Owls’ hitters inside and catch them off guard, resulting in a strikeout or a weakly hit ground ball.

“That guy is special,” FAU coach John McCormack said of Johnson. “He was able to throw a fastball for strike wherever he wanted. Then, second time through the order, he was about 80 percent with his breaking ball for a strike. Then, he’ll flip in a changeup for good measure.

“He had enough fastball that just kept beating our bats. We were a hair short of getting on it. But no one seemed to get on it this year, really. I don’t know him, but he seems to be a fierce competitor. He got the ball and went right back on the mound. He wanted the ball.”

O’Sullivan’s goal was to get a few relief pitchers into the game for some work before next weekend’s Super Regionals, but Johnson’s sparkling performance was too good for him to be removed. He threw 97 pitches on the night, 70 for strikes.

Tommy Toledo and Kevin Chapman threw the final two innings, recording a total of three strikeouts.

“This time of year is about wins,” O’Sullivan said. “You can overanalyze or over manage it, but we’re just trying to get two more wins to get to Omaha. We do have some work to do this week. We’ve got pitchers who need to get some work in intersquad.”

In 27 innings this weekend, the Florida pitching staff allowed five runs, 27 hits, two walks and struck out 30.

The Gators also didn’t make an error on the weekend. The bats having a breakout game was all that was missing, and now Florida goes into next weekend playing with confidence in all facets of the game.

“If you plan on advancing to the World Series and having a chance to play on the last day of the year you’ve got to play hit, pitch and play defense,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s the most encouraging thing going into next weekend, that we’re doing all three phases as well as we have done them all year long.

“We’ve got our sights on playing for a while into the summer.”

The next step to making that happen comes next weekend. The Gators will get the winner of the Coral Gables Regional, and their championship game is Monday night at 7 p.m. on ESPNU between Miami and Texas A&M. The Florida team will practice for about an hour Monday to allow some unused pitchers to get work, and then the team will be together to watch the Miami-Texas A&M game at night.

Florida will make their fourth appearance in a Super Regional over the past seven years.